What is the most environmentally friendly analog writing tool? How is ink made? Is it less invasive than mining graphite, etc?
Write on vast amounts of acid-free paper, which will happily sequester some carbon for a thousand years.
Pen Refills Guide
51–58 of 58 posts
Re: Pen Refills Guide
#52I've been writing with Mitsubishi ball pens before but switched to a fountain pen - a simple Lamy with a fine feather - and I can really recommend it. The writing experience is very nice as the pen requires very little pressure to write and with a little practice the result looks very good. I also bought a small flask of black ink and an ink converter (a small ink cartridge allowing you to draw ink from the flask int…
I, too, love fountain pens. Except when I forget to take my daily out of my pencil case before flying. :(
Sounds like someone needs a Conid with the sealed ink reservoir ;)
Re: Pen Refills Guide
#53I've been writing with Mitsubishi ball pens before but switched to a fountain pen - a simple Lamy with a fine feather - and I can really recommend it. The writing experience is very nice as the pen requires very little pressure to write and with a little practice the result looks very good. I also bought a small flask of black ink and an ink converter (a small ink cartridge allowing you to draw ink from the flask int…
> so it's more economic than using ball pens
I wonder if this is also better from an ecological perspective. At first sight looks better (less waste), but I would like to be able to do the calculations just to confirm it.
Re: Pen Refills Guide
#54One nice thing about refills is that it gets you into a much nicer class of pen body - it's amazing how much difference a nice texture and better weight and balance can make. Of course, then you need to be careful to not lose them! I habitually carry multiple pens - at very least, a fountain pen and a disposable ballpoint that I like (Uni-Ball Jetstream). The ballpoint is for signing receipts mostly, so I don't have…
I also habitually carry fountain pens, a ball point or gel pen, and a mechanical pencil (Pentel Graphgear 1000). My EDC fountain pens typically includes a Visconti Homo Sapiens Maxi Bronze Age, Pelikan Souverän M805 Ocean Swirl, and a Lamy 2000 (inked with Montblanc Oyster Grey) in a leather pen case. I also carry a Kaweco Liliput with a Monteverde green refill when I'm traveling and it is impractical to carry/use my…
I'm mostly using a Super5 fountain pen, about on par with a Lamy Safari, with Monteverde blue-black ink. Totally agree on the writing experience... a fountain pen just feels so much better than any ball-type or felt-type pen. So my EDC is just the Super5 and a Uni-Ball Jetstream (mostly for receipts), but I really should carry another pen as a sacrificial "Hey, do you have a pen I can borrow?"
Re: Pen Refills Guide
#55One nice thing about refills is that it gets you into a much nicer class of pen body - it's amazing how much difference a nice texture and better weight and balance can make. Of course, then you need to be careful to not lose them! I habitually carry multiple pens - at very least, a fountain pen and a disposable ballpoint that I like (Uni-Ball Jetstream). The ballpoint is for signing receipts mostly, so I don't have…
I also like the Hi-Tec-C refills. I wanted to use them with a pen that takes a (IIRC) Parker style refill so I used a 3d-printer to print an adapter I slide over the refill.
That's a good idea. I want something so I can just buy cheap Hi-Tec-C pens by the box, and use them in an actual nice body.
Re: Pen Refills Guide
#56Earlier quoted context omitted.
I also like the Hi-Tec-C refills. I wanted to use them with a pen that takes a (IIRC) Parker style refill so I used a 3d-printer to print an adapter I slide over the refill.
That's a good idea. I want something so I can just buy cheap Hi-Tec-C pens by the box, and use them in an actual nice body.
You can find just the refills online for less than $2 each. That's what I buy.
Re: Pen Refills Guide
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've found pens to more commonly break before they run out of ink anyway. And my preferred roller ball pens (Uniball Air Micro) aren't refillable anyway. But I've taken to using a Pilot Metropolitan fountain pen more often anyway, and that's easily and cheaply refillable from a bottle of ink.
Heh. I've found that my odds of breaking a pen are negatively correlated to the price of the pen. I switched to using pigma microns at the beginning of the year. Just starting on my 3rd pen. The first two are not only not broken, but they are also neatly arranged in my stationery drawyer. Marked as finished. Wish they had a way of refilli g the inks on these pens. I wanted to try fountain pens but couldn't find archi…
As snazz says, Noodler's bulletproof is pretty good, smudging is still a possibility with it but depends more on the paper you use. Another good one is De Atramentis Document Ink (better than the Noodler imho)
Re: Pen Refills Guide
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
I, too, love fountain pens. Except when I forget to take my daily out of my pencil case before flying. :(
Sounds like someone needs a Conid with the sealed ink reservoir ;)
Past edit window, but TWSBI Vac Mini is another (much cheaper) one that can seal the nib off from the reservoir.
Since air expansion in the reservoir is why low pressure pushes ink out the front, a seal between reservoir and the feed means they're safer to fly with.